


Maybe it'll all be okay

by somewhereoverthelarrybow



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Childhood Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Enemies, Friends to Lovers, Pablo Neruda - Freeform, Past Abuse, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-21
Updated: 2015-03-21
Packaged: 2018-03-18 19:55:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3581907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somewhereoverthelarrybow/pseuds/somewhereoverthelarrybow





	1. Chapter 1

Delilah

"Get down here. Now!" The cold voice tore me out of my surprisingly pleasant dreams. I sighed and winced as I swung my legs out of my comfy, warm bed and stumbled to the mirror on the outside of my wardrobe. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I took in my appearance. It looked a lot worse than it felt; a black eye, cut lip and a massive hand imprint on my cheek. Given the track record, I felt my father had gone easy on me. My father hits me, whenever he feels like it. There was one time when he hit me so badly; I was in hospital for a week. He broke three of my ribs, my leg and my jaw. I have countless bruises and scars, and every time someone asks, I blame it on my clumsiness. Just like my father told me to.

"Delilah! Get down here! Right now!" Speak of the devil. The harsh voice of my father called up the stairs. Sighing, I quickly applied some concealer on the black eye and covered up the handprint using some foundation. Using an antibacterial make up remover wipe, I cleaned the cut on my lip. Throwing a hoodie on over my pajama top, I cautiously made my way downstairs, through the living room and into the kitchen. My father was facing the stove and had his back to me. Trembling, I cleared my throat and my father span around. He ran a hand through his graying hair,  
"Your mother has a hangover." I sighed, I knew what it meant. Every time my mother had a hangover and hadn't sobered up before 7am, I had to cook my father's breakfast. And he has a massive appetite. He always wants the works; four rashers of bacon, three fried eggs, four slices of fried bread, beans, tomatoes and fried mushrooms. When I had finished cooking the massive breakfast, I placed it on the table in front of my father. He stood up and I flinched and took a small step back.

Chuckling he said,   
"Smart girl. But not smart enough." I barely smothered the cry as he viciously slapped my cheek. With tears brimming in my eyes, I hurried up the stairs, leaving my father laughing in the kitchen. I ran a quick shower and got dressed; black skinny jeans, a cream tank top, a pink off-shoulder jumper and my dark blue Converse. Approaching my make-up bag, I decided to go for a more natural look. Before I did my main make-up, I fixed the make-up that had smudged in the shower and applied foundation to the recent handprint. Then, I put my make-up on my dressing table in the order I was going to put it on; blusher, eye liner, mascara and lip balm. I hate using lip gloss. It just sticks to everything! After I finished, I checked the time on my iPhone. 7.45. I had 45 minutes until school started. For the next 10 minutes, I played Temple Run and set a new high score. Something I'm actually good at. I grabbed my bag, keys and phone and jogged down the stairs. My father was passed out on the couch. Five to eight, that might just be a new record for him. I unlocked the door and closed it gently behind me. I neared the alleyway and began to panic. They will be there. They're always there. As I made my way down the long alleyway, I saw them ahead of me, lounging against the wall. There they were; Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson. My heart sped up a bit when I saw Louis. I almost wished that things would go back to the way they were before. Me and Louis used to be best friends, we were joint at the hip. Then we went to high school and he gradually stopped talking to me in school, stopped answering my texts and calls. And he started siding with the bullies. Then all contact stopped and whenever I saw him in the halls, the only time he would look at me would be to give me a dirty glare and roughly barge into me. The bullies only bullied me because I didn't have the latest phone and didn't know all the latest songs or copy the latest trends. As I approached them, mine and Louis' eyes made contact and I could have sworn I saw something flicker through them. Memories? But then it was gone. Replaced by the icy blue that has taken permanent residence in his once enchanting ocean blue eyes. I was brought back to the present by Harry.

"Hey there, Delilah." I winced on the inside. That was Louis' favourite song. I saw Louis flinch out of the corner of my eye. It was probably nothing I decided. It gets quite cold around here, in Bradford. I always worried about what Louis told the boys, he knew all of my secrets. Louis, Harry and Zayn have been best friends since the age of 12. And now they are all 18, and I'm 17. And there is no escaping them. They are in all of my lessons and Zayn lives across the street. Harry and Louis always sleep over at Zayn's. His family is in Australia and trusts him with everything.  
"So, Delilah, where do you think you're going?" Zayn asked me smirking.  
"I...erm...t-to sc-school." Louis gave me a quick once-over.  
"Dressed like that?! Where did you get the jumper from? A second hand shop?!" Zayn and Harry snickered. I decided to be brave and stand up for myself. Even if it would be for just this one time.  
"N-no." Louis arrogantly raised an eyebrow.  
"So where did you get...it?" He said, gesturing to my jumper. I raised my chin and looked him directly in the eyes.  
"You gave it to me." His eyes practically fell out of their sockets. I raised my hand to eye level, pretending to scratch my nose. But what I was really doing was giving him a glimpse of my right cuff. Louis had bought me the jumper for my 11th birthday, claiming it contrasted nicely with the paleness of my face. Just before we drifted apart. I rarely ate square meals, so I still wear my clothes from 7 years ago. Louis had begged his mother to stitch a little carrot onto the cuff, it was our secret. Harry and Zayn began laughing hysterically.  
"Louis gave you that?! THAT?!" An emotion flickered in Louis' eyes. One I hadn't seen in a while...regret. Then it was gone. And so was the Louis I used to know. The Louis I fell in love with. He followed Harry and Zayn's lead and doubled over laughing. But I knew him better than that, that was his fake laugh. Then, suddenly, Harry and Zayn stopped laughing. Louis quickly followed suit. They slowly stalked towards me, but Louis seemed a bit reluctant. I silently prayed he was thinking of the good times we'd spent together. Suddenly, a sharp pain emitted in my stomach. I doubled over in pain as Harry leaned back. I groaned. Harry had the hardest punch, Zayn had the quickest reflexes and Louis...Louis was the fastest runner. He leaned in and I flinched, anticipating the pain that would surely follow. He chuckled and whispered in my ear,  
"Later, Delilah, later." With that, he kissed my cheek and I could see Louis clenching his jaw and fists. Zayn swung for me. Luckily, adrenaline was coursing through my body, so I ducked. Zayn hissed as his fist came into contact with the brick wall.  
"Definitely later." They walked off without a backwards glance. That is, until Louis stopped and looked back at me. I ignored him and began to gently prod my stomach, assessing the damage. I checked my phone. 8.05. Those five minutes had seemed like five hours. Sighing, I picked up my satchel and set off towards school. I plugged my headphones into my phone and pressed shuffle. Look after you by The Fray came on. I scoffed. If only I had someone to look after me. I pulled my timetable out of my bag. Double chemistry. Amazing, just amazing. And guess who's in my chemistry. The one and only Louis Williams. My phone beeped as I navigated my way through the halls. I bet my entire bank account that it's my best (and only) friend Angelica.

_Hey, we've got double Chemistry first. I'm already there, you okay? Ange xxx_

I smiled. Ange was the only one who stuck by me. And she also texts me our first period every morning.

_Morning :) I've just got in. My stomach's killing me, haha... Deli xxx_

_Well hurry up! I'm lonely! And Louis and co again? Ange xxx_

I chuckled to myself. Ange always knew what to say. I looked around and in the distance I saw a disturbing sight; Harry's curls, Zayn's quiff and Louis' stripes. I started to speed walk. I texted a quick reply to Ange.

_How did you know?! And I'm nearly there. Deli xxx_

I was nearly there and my phone went off again.

_Deli, those boys have it in for you. For some reason. And HURRY UPPP!!! Ange xxx_

I chuckled and turned the corner. I heard a squeal and the next thing I knew, Ange had thrown her arms around me and enveloped me in a bone-crushing hug. I smiled and hugged her back. Then, the bell for first period went. Ange picked up her bag and dragged me into the lab. I plonked myself down in my stool at the very back. Unfortunately, Ange sat at the front. And even worse, I sat with Louis in this lesson. And another two; English and History. Sometimes I think the teachers are trying to get us to speak to each other again. The chances of me and Louis having a civil conversation were...slim. Non-existent is probably more accurate. It's not that I don't want to talk to Louis, it's just he won't talk to me. Even after all the bad stuff he's done to me. I...I think I still love him. If I told someone they'd be thinking; 'Louis? Hurt you? It can't be that bad!' On the contrary,he (with the help of Harry and Zayn) has broken my nose three times, my arms twice and just last month, he fractured my elbow in two different places. On top of that, he has given me countless bruises and scars. And the only excuse he has ever given is, 'You know what you did.' And the excuse he uses whenever anyone asks about my bruises is the same as my father's. They both blame it on my clumsiness. I go with it for two reasons; if I don't, they'll hurt me and I don't like seeing Louis annoyed. The last time he was annoyed, he punched a door. And now, there is a huge dent in one of the doors in the History department. The door swung open and everyone started piling into the lab. The door slammed shut as Louis made his way into the lab, ten minutes late. The teacher gave him a cold look, and Louis returned it with a sickly sweet smile. The teacher, Dr Pronton, raised an eyebrow.  
"Mr Tomlinson, is it too much to ask for you to be on time?" Louis chuckled.

"Dr Pronton, be glad I actually turned up." Dr Pronton nodded his head in defeat. But then he regained his composure. He walked back to his laptop, and after pressing a few buttons, a chart and some information appeared on the projector.  
"So...it's been a while since I set you an out-of-school project. So...now you have one." Everyone groaned. Excluding me. Louis scoffed.  
"I bet you're looking forward to this, Deli-Weli." He said with venom. The uncertainty from this morning had gone, replaced by his usual coldness. I took a chance and looked at him. His eyes hardened and he scribbled something down on a piece of paper. Louis then slid the piece of paper across the small desk to me. The desks were so small, our thighs were brushing. I flinched. For two reasons; I'd just realized what he'd called me and I, honestly, expected him to pinch me. Louis chuckled and gripped my chin. I scrunched my eyes closed until he tapped my nose. Nervously I opened my eyes, I was facing the board. I saw the list of partners. I was confused until I found my surname. Rogers. And right next to it was the name I dreaded. Tomlinson.  
"Well...partner. Looks like we'll be spending a bit more time together." He whispered into my ear before pressing the paper into my hand. The thing that surprised me was that he gently pressed the paper into my hand. The last time Louis had been gentle to me was...seven years ago. And with one last glance at me, Louis faced forward and started talking to the blonde bimbos, whose desk was in front of mine and Louis'. I sighed and unfolded the note. It was Louis' address. I scoffed and then crumpled the paper into a ball and put it in my pocket. He probably thought I'd forgotten he lives about five minutes away from me. I began doodling in my book. Dr Pronton had given us the rest of the two hours to sort out the project with our partners. In other words, I'd be drafting the first part of the project, which was my part, whilst Louis would be flirting with some dumb blonde who applied her makeup with a trowel. Louis said something that made Hannah, the head cheerleader and head bimbo, throw back her fake head and laugh her horrible, fake laugh. I felt Louis put something on my thigh. I tensed as he patted my thigh, almost reassuringly. He chuckled at my reaction and turned back to Hannah. Curiously, I unfolded the scrap of paper.  
_I saw what happened last night. Why would he do that?_ I froze. Louis had seen my father hitting me. Oh no. I looked imploringly at him, but he was in the middle of getting Hannah's number. Louis didn't know but Hannah was part of a two week long bet; by the end of, or before, the end of two weeks, Hannah will have Louis' number and she will have been on at least one date with him. I only knew this because I was hiding in one of the toilet stalls, hiding from Louis, Harry and Zayn, and they were gossiping. I spent the next fifteen minutes wondering how Louis could have seen my father hitting me. But then another question settled in my mind; why would Louis care? I tore a piece of paper out of my book and wrote,  
_Why would you care? You, Harry and Zayn do pretty much the same amount of damage._ I folded it into a neat square and glanced at him. He was talking to Hannah. Smirking slightly, I tucked the paper into the front pocket of his chinos. I chuckled soundlessly as he visibly tensed. Hannah raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow but then shrugged. I looked at Louis out of the corner of my eye and he was glaring at me. But then he fished around in his pocket and retrieved the paper. Reading it, his face dropped. And he scribbled out another note. But before he could give it to me, then bell went. I sat up shocked. Two hours already? I made my way to the door where Ange was waiting for me. We made our way out into the corridor and Ange tapped my shoulder and it took all my efforts not to flinch.  
"We have a free period now. Want to go up to the field?" Before I could answer, I was slammed against the lockers. Closing my eyes, I whimpered as the locks dug into my back. Opening my eyes I saw Hannah.  
"Silly slag. You think you can steal Louis from me?!" I opened my mouth to form a witty comeback but she slapped me across the cheek. Right on the spot my dad hit me. Louis came around the corner at that exact moment. He saw me clutching my cheek and went to come up to me, but Hannah threw herself at him.   
"Loubear!" He untangled himself from her and walked up to me. Harry and Zayn approached from their classrooms. I noticed Harry checking Ange out and made a mental note to warn her off him, Ange's taste is bad boys, and Harry is just about as bad as they get. Louis leaned in and whispered in my ear,  
"We have a surprise for you...and your little friend. Come to the field in five minutes." Tapping my cheek, he continued, "Or else."


	2. Chapter 2

Delilah

My hands began to tremble as I approached the double doors that lead to the front of school. I had two options; make a break for it and run home, and have Louis and his cronies beat me up tomorrow, or, I go to the field and get beaten up anyway. It was a win/win chance for everyone, except me. They beat me up either way. And, as usual, I just stand there and take the beating that I have been receiving for more than half a decade. And, like normal, I had no idea as to what I had done to deserve the beatings. Heart thumping against my chest, I turned the corner and began to follow the worn-down walkway that lead to the field. The field was notorious; everyone bad went there if they wanted a bit of privacy to do things that…weren’t exactly classed as innocent. I looked at the field. I had never had Louis summon me to the field before; it was always the alleyway next to either the school or by my house. The field was mine and Louis’ special place. Whenever either of us was sad or feeling lonely, we’d go to the tree at the top of the field, and after sending a quick text, the other would be there within minutes. But when we fell out, the field became his, not ours anymore.   
“Watch out!” Someone called from behind. I turned around and cringed as  _something_  barreled into me and sent us both crashing to the ground. Whimpering, I picked myself up off the ground and looked at what had sent me crashing to the floor.  
“Oh god, I am so so sorry! I-I didn’t mean t-to…a-are you hurt?” I looked up and saw a boy with sandy brown hair and adorable brown puppy eyes in a varsity jacket and black jeans. I dusted myself off and nodded. 

“Erm, yeah, I-I’m fine,thank you.” He looked a bit doubtful and looked me over.  
“Are you sure? I knocked you over with quite a bit of force.” I ducked my head and looked at my feet. Suddenly, I felt two fingers on my chin and my head lifted up until my eyes were level with his.

“Are you okay, erm-“ I looked at him, gesturing for him to carry on, until I realized he was waiting for me to tell him my name.  
“Oh, I’m Delilah.” He smiled and removed his fingers from my chin and held it out. Upon reflex, I cringed and I saw a brief flicker of hurt flash through his brown eyes before he lowered his hand. “Oh, I’m sorry, it’s just…a reflex.” He smiled gently and raised his hand again, this time I was prepared and my hand met his as he gently pumped it.  
"I'm Liam." I smiled the first genuine smile not caused by Ange in over three years.  
“Hi, I, erm, haven’t seen you around before. Are you new?” Liam smiled and scratched the back of his head.  
“Yeah, me and my brother, Niall, are new.” I smiled again and went to pick up my school bag. But a large hand pushed mine out of the way. Liam straightened up and held my bag out to me. Smiling gratefully, I took it. Liam then asked me the question I was dreading,  
“So where are you going?” I gulped and was about to answer but I felt someone wrap their arm around my waist.   
"Hello mate, I'm Louis, Delilah's boyfriend. Can we help you?" Liam smiled and shook Louis' outstretched hand.  
"No man, I knocked Delilah over and was just telling her about me and my brother being new." Shock filled Louis' face and he swivelled to face me. Concern filled his features as he surveyed my entire body, from head to toe.  
"Are you okay, Lilee? You're not hurt or anything?" As soon as he mentioned hurt, pain in my shoulder and neck flared to life.  
"My shoulder and neck." Liam looked extremely guilty as I said this. I noticed and took sympathy on the poor boy who resembled a little puppy. "Liam, seriously, it's fine. Don't w-" I cut off as I felt a pair of lips slowly travel the entire span of my shoulder and neck, covering all the painful areas. I gasped as electric currents spread through my body like wildfire. Louis pulled away and innocently looked at me and said,  
"Any better?" I could only nod as a blonde boy made his way up to Liam and jumped on his back. Louis tightened his grip on my waist and pulled me closer. Liam chuckled, grabbed the back of the boy’s thighs to support him and without looking behind him, said,  
“Hey, Ni.” The blonde boy got off Liam’s back and smiled at me, he then extended his hand out to me,  
“Hey there. I’m Niall.” I went to shake his hand, but he got a solid grip on my wrist and pulled me into a massive hug and he buried his head in my neck. It was, undoubtedly, one of the best hugs I’d ever had. “I’m so sorry. I’m just a really big hugger.” I pulled away and was momentarily stunned by his Irish accent. I was brought back to the present by a possessive arm being draped around my waist. I looked at Louis and was extremely surprised to see him glaring at Niall, like he wanted to rip his head off. Sighing, I patted Louis’ hand, which was clutching the side of my waist, almost absentmindedly. I was shocked when he tangled our fingers together. I felt the blood rush towards my cheeks and immediately, my heart rate skyrocketed. Liam noticed my face and he took pity on me, he turned to Niall who was quite obviously looking me up and down, much to Louis’ distaste.  
“Ni, this is Delilah.” Niall smirked and winked at me, causing Louis to hold me tighter. Gently, I squeezed our conjoined fingers. Louis sighed in defeat and gently pressed his forehead to my temple. Liam noticed our exchange and finished his introduction. “And this is her boyfriend, Louis.” Niall abruptly stopped his visual assessment of my body and looked guiltily at Louis.  
“Hi, and sorry about that, mate.” Louis tensed, and even though I knew I was on thin ice with him and his temper when we would be alone, I gave him a warning squeeze of the fingers. With that, he seemed to snap out of his jealous and defensive phase and smiled at Niall, holding his hand out,  
“It’s fine, mate. Trust me; I can’t say I blame you.” He added a wink at the end of his sentence and Niall agreed as my face flushed even more. Using my spare hand, I swatted at his chest and muttered something along the lines of; ‘Oh, shut up, you.’ Louis turned to me with his crooked grin and his eyes crinkled in amusement. Pressing a kiss to my temple, he chuckled.  
“You love me really, Lilee.” Before I could reply, Niall interrupted.  
“Hey, Louis?” Louis reluctantly turned away from me and faced Niall.  
“Yeah, Niall?” Niall appeared to thinking about something rather hard.  
“Aren’t you trying out for the football team? I saw your name on the board in the office.” Colour flooded Louis’ cheeks and I smiled, this was the most humane I’d seen Louis in a long time. He chuckled, and used his spare hand, which was the one that wasn’t entangled with mine, he rubbed the back of his neck.  
“Erm, yeah, I am. But I was on the team in freshman and sophomore years, and the coach said if I’m still as good as I was back then, I’ve definitely got a place. Are you going to try out?” Niall looked at the ground, blushed and shook his head,  
“No, mate. I’m not good enough.” Liam’s head shot up, he scoffed and grabbed Niall by the shoulders. Forcing him to look directly at him.   
“Niall, we have been over this. Many times. You're amazing and your mum said so. If she was still here, she would instantly agree." Small tears gathered in the corner of Niall's eyes. Swallowing loudly, Niall nodded and patted one of Liam's hands, which were still laying on his shoulders. Smiling at his brother, Liam removed his hands from Niall's shoulders. They then turned to me Louis. I noticed Niall was once again, blatantly, checking me out. I guessed Louis noticed too because the possessive arm reappeared around my waist. But this time, instead of just pulling me closer, like he's done whenever he noticed Niall checking me out, he pulled me in front of him and rested his head on my shoulder and gently pressed his lips where my neck ended and my left shoulder began. I barely surpressed the shudder that ripped through my body. I guess I didn't try hard enough because Louis chuckled and whispered,  
"Whoa there. Easy tiger." With that, he pressed a chaste kiss to my neck. Colour immediately flooded my face and I looked at the ground until Liam, bless his soul, awkwardly cleared his throat and changed the subject.  
"So do you two, erm, I...I mean..." My head cocked to the side and I looked at Liam questioningly. I decided to repay the adorable boy's earlier act of kindness, by saying,  
"Do you need help finding your next lessons or something?" Liam's head shot up and he nodded gratefully before pulling out a folded piece of paper from the back of his black skinny jeans and he went to give it to me, but Louis batted my hand out of the way and he plucked the piece of paper from Liam's hand. Using the hand that wasn't currently wrapped around the front of my waist, he unfolded the piece of paper that revealed Liam and Niall's shared timetable. Luckily, Louis was standing behind me, with his head on my shoulder, so I could see Liam and Niall's timetable. Raising an eyebrow, I asked Liam, who seemed the more responsible of the two, what I had been thinking since I saw both Liam and Niall's names printed on top of the same piece of paper.  
"Erm, how come both of your names are on here?" I felt Louis nod his agreement at my question. Liam smiled and then I realised why, "You both have the same classes! And because you two are brothers, they gave you the same piece of paper!" Louis nudged my shoulder with his chin,  
"Deli, they aren't in the same homerooms though." I quickly glanced at the timetable and noticed that Louis was right. Niall had Mr Steel and Liam had Mr Ramsden. In other words, Liam was in my form, and Niall was in Louis'. I knew for a fact there was only one spare chair in my form room, and that was next to mine, so Liam was definitely sitting with me. I decided to let Liam in on this little piece of information. "Hey, Liam?" Liam appeared to have been mock-arguing with Niall, but his head shot up at the mention of his name. Casting one last playful glare at Niall, he looked at me, and didn't retaliate when Niall playfully punched him, quite hard, in the arm, proving to me that I had his full and undivided attention.  
"What's wrong, Lilee?" Lowly, Louis growled and pulled me closer into the front of his body at Liam's use of my nickname. Rolling my eyes, I lightly patted Louis' hand, which was protectively placed on my hip. Growling once more, he entangled our fingers, once again. This time, with the way Louis was gripping onto my hand, I had a feeling he wasn't going to be letting go anytime soon. Liam noticed this and raised an eyebrow. Nervously, I mouthed 'protective.' to him. He smirked and I had a suspicion that he had a plan. This time, it was my turn to raise an eyebrow. He mouthed 'form' at me and I nodded. I almost forgot that it wasn't just me, Louis and Liam until a loud rumbling/growling noise came from the right of Liam. Mine and Louis' mouths dropped open as our heads swivelled to face a red-faced Niall. Liam just shook his head, evidently used to such loud outbursts coming from the slightly smaller boy. Niall raised his hands and said,  
“Hey, in my defence, I skipped breakfast.” Liam snorted,  
“Sure. So the three bowls of chocolate Cheerios, two energy bars and four energy drinks were…” Niall whimpered and put his head in his hands,  
“Exactly. I skipped breakfast.” He wailed mournfully. I chuckled at the adorable boy’s act. Disentangling my fingers from Louis’, I almost missed the whimper that escaped Louis’ throat as I pushed my bag off my shoulder. Almost immediately, Louis’ grip on my waist tightened and he pulled me closer. I was astounded; I have never known Louis to be so possessive. With a small smirk, I decided to test the boundaries and as I pulled my lunch out of my bag, I gestured for Niall to come closer. Smiling slightly, I untangled myself from Louis’ grip and the whimper that came from Louis was a bit louder this time. With a hesitant look at Louis, I grabbed Niall’s elbow, tucked my hand into the crook of it and pulled Niall behind the tree. Smiling gently, I handed my lunch over to him. Astounded, he took the packages.  
“Delilah…this, this is your lunch. I can’t take it.” I chuckled and showed him the inside of my bag. There were another two packages nestled next to my History coursework and with a chuckle, Niall pushed one of the packages into his hoodie pocket. Once he’d finished unwrapping the package, he began to eat the cheese and ham sandwich I’d made last night.  
“Sorry if the crusts are a bit stale; I made the sandwich last night.” Niall chuckled, finished the first half of the sandwich and then wrapped his arm around my waist. We began walking back to Louis and Liam, but something felt wrong. The minute I saw Louis, I realised; Niall’s arm didn’t bring me the comfort that Louis’ did. Louis’ eyes immediately narrowed onto the movement. Louis glared at Niall’s hand with an intense, burning gaze. Noticing, Niall immediately swallowed and hastily removed his arm. Having none of it, I scowled and stopped his hand before it completely left my waist. Clearly surprised, Louis looked at me with a mixture of hurt, shock and surprise. It amazed me to see so many emotions cross his face, all because of me. I was really not used to seeing the amount of vulnerability on his face, and that must have triggered something in me because, before I realised what I was doing, I’d pushed Niall’s hand away from my waist and had flung myself into the confines of Louis’ chest. Evidently not anticipating this, Louis stumbled before his strong arms came around me, intending to keep me safe. I decided to take a chance and I leaned forward to rest my head in the crook of his neck. It wasn’t until now that I realised I was the perfect height to lean in and just rest my head into the crook of Louis’ neck. Carefully, I took in my surroundings as I, inconspicuously, breathed in Louis’ vanilla scent. Niall was looking somewhere to put the wrapper to the sandwiches, before he shrugged and placed the wrapper in the hood of Liam’s green Jack Wills hoodie. Previous to Niall doing that, Liam had been watching Louis and I’ with a fond, almost fatherly, look in his eyes. Scowling at his brother, he scrabbled around in his hood before he found the wrapper and stuffed it into his bag. Coughing gently, I unwound my arms from around Louis’ chest, but not before he made a soft groan of complaint. Smiling up at him, I moved away from him, but close enough to feel his body exuding natural heat. Gently nudging his forehead against mine, he wrapped his hand around my waist. But not before he shot Niall a dirty glare that obviously said, “Back off”. Shocked, I pulled away slightly. I was shocked for a variety of reasons; the closeness with me that Louis evidently seemed very comfortable with, the fact that Louis was being protective, of me of all people, the fact that Niall looked extremely unsurprised, and when I looked at Liam, I could detect a bit of smugness dancing in his normally innocent puppy eyes. Taking a chance, I leaned my head on Louis’ shoulder. Looking down at me, he looked a little surprised, but underneath that, I caught a glimpse of the loving and caring boy that he used to be. Before something changed him. Something that I was still trying to figure out. Because, whatever it was, it must have been bad for Louis to flat-out ignore me. Especially giving how close we used to be. It took a full Russian hammer-throw team to drag us apart. And that was when we were in a very cooperative mood. Louis’ chuckle brought me back to the present. Opening my eyes, I looked at what Louis had been laughing at. Once I saw what Liam was doing, a laugh ripped its way out of my throat. Liam had a packet of jelly babies and was tormenting Niall by continuously going to eat one, but then holding it up to the light and sceptically studying it. At the sound of my laugh, Niall looked over and I was surprised to see that there were tears in his ears. Genuine tears. Niall was clearly infatuated with his food. Taking pity on the adorable blonde, I chuckled, leaned back against Louis’ chest and put on a mock angry face as I turned to face Liam,  
“Liam, be nice, and give Niall the jelly babies. Or I’ll get Louis to beat you up.” Louis snorted from behind me. Gently, I nudged him in the ribs, and he snickered, before saying,  
“Yep, I’ll beat you up. Delilah basically owns me. I have to do whatever she says. Otherwise, I’ll get locked out of the house, and I’ll have to sleep in the garden.” Louis mock shuddered, and Liam smirked playfully at Niall, before chucking him the slightly open packet.  
“I don’t really like jelly babies anyway.” My reaction was cut short by the bell ringing, signalling the the end of the hour, and the end of our free period. I felt Louis tense from behind me, and his breathing began to pick up, a telltale sign that he was getting nervous. And I knew why. In about three minutes, five at the maximum, the whole school would be making their way to their form rooms, and quite a vast majority of those would see the exchange between me, Louis, Niall and Liam. Sighing, I removed Louis’ arms from around my waist. Whatever…this…was, whatever this illusion was, that had made me believe that things were different, and that Louis was actually capable of changing. Hmm. Evidently not. I can’t believe that I actually thought things would change. How stupid am I?! Liam coughed from beside me, making me jump. He was much closer than I had thought. I turned to him.  
“Are you okay, Lilee?” I cringed at the name.  
“Of course! Why wouldn’t I be?” Liam looked extremely unconvinced. Louis took this opportunity to move back next to me, and was just about to fully place his arm back around my waist, when…  
“Because ever since the bell went, you went as white as a-”  
“Oi, Louis! What are you doing with her?!” Came a bellow. It was Harry. Niall and Liam’s heads whipped towards me and Louis.  
“Delilah…what’s he talking about?” Nervously, I swallowed. How was I going to explain this?

 


End file.
